Billi Ouch (see video description)

Unfortunately Billi isn't feeling well, and will have to stay in the hospital for a few days. ⠀ .⠀ I've spoken a bit on her two chronic conditions: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and polycystic kidneys. Right now it's her kidneys that aren't working at full capacity. ⠀ .⠀ Kidneys are responsible for getting rid of all the metabolic waste products that naturally form as a part of life. When the kidneys aren't able to excrete those waste products as fast as your body makes them, they build up in your body and you feel extremely crummy. The two main blood values we measure to monitor whether kidneys are functioning are called creatinine (CREAT) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). Both of these values were severely elevated in Billi's blood. ⠀ .⠀ Kidneys are sadly not regenerative (unlike your liver) so when they start to lose function it's a downward slope from there. There are things we can do to help the kidneys out though. In humans, dialysis is common. This is where a machine removes a portion of blood to do the kidney's job and remove those waste products, then replaces the blood. Dialysis isn't common place in veterinary medicine yet, so we rely on diuresis - flushing the body out with a few days of IV fluids. ⠀ .⠀ Billi is being well taken care of by my colleagues (they're actually spoiling her 🤗) and she will just need some time in the hospital with IV fluids so she can feel better. She also will get an abdominal ultrasound to rule out things like a kidney infection (pyelonephritis) or cancer (😬). I'll post updates as I have them, but likely on IG. .⠀ Send your good vibes our way 💕